HalfTruth
by LoveIsGolden
Summary: Renesmee is 34 and with Jacob Black. But when she meets a human stranger, she questions her entire existence. What, exactly, is she? And with whom does she belong?
1. Prologue

**_A/N: Okay, the only reason I wrote this prologue was because you need to understand one main thing: Nessie and Jake were HAPPY before this book. Blissfully. No reason for doubt. It was absolutely perfect. When I started writing, I realized that an outsider might not understand that. Because they're going to be so angsty later XD_**

**_And the first part is because I'm a foreshadowing bitch._**

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**Half-Truth**

Prologue

_I wasn't as strong as my family. Never was. I was softer, less durable. I was restrained by the need to rest. The ability to walk in the sun was of no use here. I had nothing. _

_I had never before regretted what I was, but in this moment, my most fervent wish was to be a true vampire. One that could move faster than anything on earth. One that could rip an ancient tree from its roots. One that could hear a pin drop miles away. One that could see the detritus that made a speck of dust. One that was an unstoppable force without the limitations inherent to my race. I felt, for the first time, less because I was partly human._

_I couldn't beat her. I had no trump card, no ace up my sleeve. I had everything to lose and was stupidly betting my last card on a wager that could never be mine._

_It was clearly ridiculous that I should love him. He wasn't meant for me. My capability to fulfill his needs was severely restricted. I wasn't good for him. He should have something better, much better than me. Something that wouldn't hurt him in the end. _

_I was meant for someone else, someone I also loved. Someone that I had loved ever since the first time I saw him. Someone that had already been broken before. Someone who didn't deserve to experience that again. Someone who didn't deserve my divided affection._

_But even if he wasn't meant for me, did that mean that I shouldn't try to save him? In any capacity I could? Could I use my love for this one happy ending…for him?_

**Twenty-Two Years Earlier**

Glancing up shyly at Jacob, I walked next to his slowly loping form. My eyes traced his form, taking in his lightly browned skin and sheared cut. He was shirtless – of course – which wasn't helping my lightheadedness. His toned body sent a shiver of…something…through me. The light brushing of hair down his lower abdomen that disappeared into his ratty shorts made me feel like running my hand down the trail.

He caught me staring at him and I blushed. "Penny for your thoughts, Ness?"

I couldn't tell him what I was feeling. It was too different, too new. I had never felt like this about someone before. He had always been there for me and I was very aware of his tie to me. We were like two sides of a coin, each completing and complimenting the other. Where he was mature, I was young. Where he was duty-bound, I was carefree. Where he was focused, I was easily distractible. Neither of us was perfect but together, we had a balance. Together, we were the epitome of perfection.

"You can tell me, whatever it is. I'll never judge you," he said, trying to read my face.

And that was what made this all the more complicated. He had imprinted on me. I couldn't be sure what that made him feel but it was strong, right? I wasn't sure how I felt about that. It was something like a witch's spell. Even if the spell never lifted, was it really him? Did _he_ really love me, or was it only some kind of werewolf voodoo?

"Can you explain the imprint again?" I asked, only mentioning part of what I was thinking.

Jacob furrowed his brow and looked away. I knew he intentionally hid the details from me in order to not pressure me. He wanted me to feel like I had a choice. He didn't want me to choose him only because he imprinted. He wanted me to choose him because I loved him.

I didn't know exactly how romantic love felt. I had only loved my family. And as fiercely as my affection is for them, I knew it wasn't the same. It felt scarier to me; more unpredictable. Like one wrong word and I might explode.

"I'm completely yours," Jake said finally. "You're the thing that matters most. I would give up everything for you if you asked. I would do it even if you mentioned it in passing. I love you so much that I would do anything for you, even if it meant my life."

My eyes were wide. He had never said it so bluntly before. He stated his feelings like they were the most obvious in the world, like I was staring at a painting right in front of me and he was describing it to me.

"I would die for you, Nessie. You are my sun, my moon, my stars, my planet. Everything I do, I do it for you." He looked back into my eyes and studied them.

After a minute, he asked, "So what do you think?"

I gulped. It was now or never. "I think…I think…I might love you. Like, romantically," I said, feeling silly for having to qualify it.

He half-smiled down at me. "I might love you too."

The breath rushed out of my lungs and I threw myself around him without thinking.

"Oomph," Jake grunted, hitting the forest floor.

"Jake? Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't think about what I was doing. Did I hurt you? Should I take you to La Push? Oh my God, I _cannot_ believe I just tackled you, I'm _so_ sorry and…"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Jake rushed to assure me.

I bit my lip and looked down at us. I was straddling his waist, my hands on his shoulders. His hands had moved up to take places at my waist. When I looked him in the eyes again, they were tinted a darker color.

I moved my hands to his face and stroked his jaw with my fingertips. "Jake…"

He looked at me a little dazedly, his lips slightly parted. My gaze focused on his lips and I bent down without thinking and pressed my lips to his.

His hands tightened on me and he kissed me back, his lips parting and a sigh escaping his lips.

And in that moment, I knew that I was his as he was mine.


	2. Chapter 1

**_A/N: Okay, this is most likely going to be boring for a couple chapters. Would you please suffer through it? For me? *bats eyelashes convincingly*_**

**_I don't own Nessie or Jake, not that I would want to own him. He's just a glorified homewrecker XD_**

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**Half-Truth**

Chapter 1

My mother smiled at me beatifically. Only someone who had known her for years could have recognized that she was putting up a front. "Have a fun time, Renesmee!" She still refused to call me Nessie.

My father put his arm around Bella and squeezed gently. "She'll be fine, love," he whispered into her hair on barely a breath. He didn't mean for me to hear.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, I will. I can take care of myself. I've done it before."

Edward smirked at me. "We'll see."

I fought the urge to stick out my tongue at him – proving myself right _again_. I was completely mature – and wrapped my arms around both of them. "Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad."

"Ready to go, Ness?" Jacob asked from behind me.

"Yup." I released my parents and kissed both their cheeks.

When I turned around to head to the gate, Edward's white hand shot out and gripped Jake's shoulder. He leaned forward and hissed, "If she doesn't come back in _pristine_ condition, I will skin you and use your pelt for an area rug."

"Can we quit the masculine posturing?" I asked, over Bella's muffled laughter. "Jake and I have a plane to catch."

I grabbed Jacob's hand and tugged him towards the gate, pulling harder when he tired to turn around and wave at my parents, miming Ms. America and generally making a fool of himself.

We were visiting Siobhan and the Irish Coven. Well, I was. Jake was just going to spend time running around the countryside to relish time as a wolf without incessant chatter in his head. We had discovered early on that anything over five thousand miles was beyond the range of the pack "hearing."

He spent less time around me as he did his pack. It was difficult to carry on a relationship with him when a great deal of his time was spent coddling his pack. Not that I really resented them, but it's awkward when you're trying to carry on a physical relationship with an Alpha when all his pack members are always checking in and getting up to some kind of hijinks.

It also hurt the pack greatly whenever Jake left. Without the Alpha, a pack is directionless. It lacks structure and the ability to govern itself. We discovered that the first time Jake tried to put Embry in charge. Without the might of the Alpha, Embry lasted a week.

I loved visiting far away and outlandish places. Washington wasn't thrilling enough for me. I tired very early on of the endless rain and exorbitant greenery. I wanted to visit every place my grandfather, Carlisle, pointed out on the map. I wanted to see the places I had only dreamed of.

Jake, as much as I loved him, reduced the options of travel to a couple times every few years. I understood his pack's dependence and I understood his utter unwillingness to let me leave him. I felt it too, to a certain extent. It was simply part of my nature to be restless and being held here not only by my significant other but also my family was a little much to bear.

And okay, I realized that we needed to stay here for Charlie. I loved the man adoringly, just like my mother. But thirty four years in the same place made for some very long dull spells. Not even Emmett's tireless antics could liven up that for me.

What I really wanted was to flit from place to place when the fancy struck me. Was that so horrible?

Siobhan knew we were coming, of course. When we arrived at their front door, having run from the airport, she opened the door enthusiastically. "Welcome to Ireland, beloved!" Honestly, all of the vampires from the Volturi fight had the most affectionate-slash-odd nicknames for me. I rather liked it though. All of them fit me, in their own way.

"I'm going to go run, 'kay?" Jake said into my ear. I nodded to Jake and embraced Siobhan. Her sturdy body made mine feel comparatively weak.

She led me into the entryway and I inspected the home. It was obviously antique and large in an understated way. Paintings of various parts of Ireland at varying ages lined the walls like a collection of family photos. The floors and walls were wooden slats and gave the entire house a rustic feel. The furniture was varying stages of ancient. More noticeably though, it was obvious that Siobhan and Liam had lived there for a good part of their existence.

"Nessie!" Maggie, a whirl of red hair and glittering skin, darted down the stairs and threw her arms around my waist. She was much younger than my approximate age of twenty-five and her short stature attested to it.

I hugged her back tightly. It had been years since I had seen her, yet she hadn't changed a bit. Foolishly, I had expected her to grow up. She always struck me as childlike with her complete honesty. Her view of the world was entirely created from her gift. She only saw people's true natures: no bluster, no masks, no mistakes. Just the pure, unadulterated truth.

"I'm so glad to see you all," I said, grinning madly. Liam, who had snuck from the back room, grasped Siobhan's hand and smiled at me slightly. I wasn't offended by his non-greeting. It was Liam's way. He was the quintessence of the strong and silent type.

"Come _on_!" Maggie impatiently grabbed my hand. "I'm going to show you my room."

"Okay," I agreed readily.

Maggie's room exemplified her. The russet walls were the only color in the room besides her crimson hair. It had the sterile feel of modern room furnishings but only because everything was so well cared for it was like new. The white wood furnishings were straight and orderly, without hint of a mess. I thought guiltily of the piles surrounding the edges of my room.

Maggie flopped on the elderly couch – which didn't budge – and patted the cushion next to her. I sat down and faced her, crossing my legs slumber party style.

"How are you?" Maggie asked. "How is Esme? Bella? Jasper?" She had dubbed them her favorites within a few days of arriving in Forks…the first time.

"Everyone's fine," I assured her. "It's been the same old, same old." I hoped she didn't notice the note of bitterness in my voice.

"What's wrong?" Maggie was too intuitive.

"Nothing," I sighed. "Just getting stir-crazy again, I guess."

She squinted at me again, but didn't push. "And where's your werewolf?"

I wasn't exactly sure what other vampires thought about Jake and me. My close family, including the Denali coven, had long since made peace with it. The bond between Jake and I was undeniable and my family understood this concept. But I knew other vampires might not be able to comprehend a half-breed vampire and a werewolf. I was already a mind-boggling minority; the imprint thing seemed to throw even my closest friends into the reaches of their acceptance. Thank goodness immortal age seemed to grant endless acquiescence…or at least tolerance.

"He's outside running. The trip was long for him." I giggled at the memory of Jacob's seven foot frame shoved into the tiny sardine-like seats they had tried to shove us in. Jacob had put his foot down after that. He was clearly more uncomfortable in the seat than with using my family's money, which was his problem with first class in the beginning. "Can he stay in the house with me during the night?"

Maggie nodded. "Of course. Any…friend of yours is a friend of ours."

She spent the next hour informing me of what had been happening with other covens and her own. Benjamin had finally left the Egyptian coven with Tia about a month before. Amun had been vacillating between anger and fear ever since then, calling every friendly coven in Africa and Europe and fishing for information. Stefan and Vladimir had staged another Volturi takeover. They had gathered an excess of a hundred mature vampires and almost succeeded, but for Jane and Alec arriving at an inopportune moment. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, but Maggie continued on. Kachiri, Senna and Zafrina had gained a new coven member: Cyrene. The three of them had found Cyrene stumbling through the jungle, beaten halfway to death. They took her in and now their newest member had preternatural strength to lend to her male hatred. It made her even more volatile than the average newborn.

She paused in her monologue. "Liam and Siobhan have been fighting," she said matter-of-factly.

My eyes widened and I stared at her in shock. I had never known the two to disagree, let alone develop into a dispute.

"Siobhan's gift has become stronger. She doesn't want to admit it," Maggie said, the corner of her mouth turning up. "Liam's been trying to convince her to learn how to control it."

"What's been happening?" I asked, interested.

"Some people from the local village are acting…strange." Maggie giggled. "Siobhan has always thought that humans were endlessly interesting with their rapidly shifting emotions. But lately…"

"What?"

"I'll show you tomorrow," Maggie promised. "We'll have to sneak away from Siobhan. She won't like that I'm telling you. She thinks we're ganging up on her."

I laughed with her gleefully. Siobhan was always so stubborn. Carlisle had been attempting for centuries to convince her that she had a power. Liam and Maggie insisting that she had one too must have really annoyed her.

A knock sounded on the door and Maggie called for Liam to come in. He opened the door and nodded to me. "Siobhan wishes to show you the house, Renesmee." He was always so flawlessly polite and distant.

I nodded at him and leaped to my feet soundlessly. "Can she wait a minute? I need to check on Jake." I was suffering major guilt about leaving him outside.

Liam's face was blank. "Of course. I'll let her know."

I smiled blindingly at him and kissed Maggie's cheek. "I'll only be a bit."

"Take your time. I'm sure Siobhan will understand," Maggie said, shooting Liam a look.

I scampered around him, patting him on the shoulder as I went by. Siobhan was not happy when she didn't get her way and was probably an abrasive person to spent eternity with. Not that Liam was complaining.

Slipping out the front door silently and heading for a patchy grove of trees, I called, "Jake?"

"Yes?"

I spun around and put my hand to my heart. It was beating faster than normal. "Geez! You just scared the life out of me."

"Sorry, Ness," he apologized, seemingly repentant. However, his arms were sneaking around me, so I knew he didn't feel that bad.

I let him hug me, kissing his cheek. "Are you okay? Maggie said you could sleep with me on the sofa bed."

Jacob waggled his eyebrows. "So she gave us her permission?"

I felt a blush rising in my cheeks.

Jacob and I had been spending the night together for five years now. I spent all my nights with him in his house now. It had seemed the right time to finally move out of my parent cottage on the family grounds. Now I had a space that was just mine and Jacob's. But with my family hanging around and his pack, there had never been a good time to actually consummate the relationship. And all kidding aside, Jacob didn't seem to feel any need to rush.

I detangled myself from his grasp and crossed my arms, putting my nose in the air. "Hmph. See if I sleep with you now."

"Aw, c'mon, Nessie babe! You know I wouldn't soil your honor in a friend's house." Jacob got to his knees and wrapped his arms around my knees.

I rolled my eyes and pulled him to his feet. "Siobhan wants to show me the house. Want to come with?"

"I doubt the pretentious ladybird wants me there. She might bleach the house after we're gone."

I smiled involuntarily. "Shut it, Jake. I'm leaving you out here."

"Go on," he said, bowing at the waist and motioning back to the house. "Her Highness awaits."

I cuffed him on the back of his head as I headed towards the house.

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**_A/N: Review? You know you want to._**


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